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BREAKTHROUGHS
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| 1878 |
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Edison Electric Light Company formed. |
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| 1879 Power Systems |
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Dynamo: Edison and team develop first dynamos capable of powering neighborhood-wide lighting systems. 2002 Power Systems revenues: $22.9 billion |
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| 1879 Plastics and Specialty Materials |
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Filaments and Insulation: Edison searches for materials for practical filaments for light bulbs, begins quest for insulating materials for electrical wires. 2002 Plastics and Specialty Materials revenues: $7.6 billion |
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| 1879 Consumer Products |
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Lighting: Edison invents the first carbon-filament incandescent lamp. 2002 Consumer Products revenues: $8.5 billion |
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| 1879 Industrial Systems |
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Regulators: Edison develops regulator to keep light bulb filaments burning evenly. Over the next decade, Edison-associated companies manufacture fixtures, meters, motors, fuses, wiring and other electrical system components. 2002 Industrial Systems revenues: $5.0 billion |
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| 1887 Transportation Systems |
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Electrified Railways: Edison colleague Frank Sprague develops first successful urban electric railway technology. Sprague Electric Motor later becomes part of GE. 2002 Transportation Systems revenues: $2.3 billion |
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| 1892 |
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General Electric Company formed. |
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| 1896 Medical Systems |
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X-rays: GE’s Elihu Thomson builds electrical equipment for production of X-rays; in 1913, GE’s William D. Coolidge develops hot cathode, high vacuum X-ray tube, enabling first modern X-ray tube. 2002 Medical Systems revenues: $9.0 billion |
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| 1900 Global Research |
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Corporate Lab: GE Research Laboratory, prototype of corporate R&D center, is established with a 3-person staff. 2002 Global Research scientists and technical resources: 15,000 |
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| 1905 Commercial Finance |
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Financial Services: The Electric Bond and Share Co. is organized to provide financing to small utilities; precursor of Commercial Finance. 2002 Commercial Finance revenues: $16.0 billion |
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| 1906 |
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Wireless: World’s first voice radio broadcast is made possible by GE engineer Ernst F.W. Alexanderson’s development of a high-frequency alternator. |
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| 1912 |
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Resins: Molding of plastic parts is begun using phenolic resins; GE forms Plastics Department in 1930. |
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| 1914 |
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Canal: Panama Canal opens, with GE-designed motors and controls powering the world’s largest electrical installation. |
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| 1917 Consumer Products |
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Refrigerators: GE starts production of first hermetically sealed home refrigerators, the basic type still in use today. |
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| 1918 Aircraft Engines |
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Liberty Engine: Ground tests of Liberty airplane engine equipped with a supercharger designed by GE researcher Sanford Moss. Moss’s principles lead to GE’s development of first jet engine and GE’s leadership in power turbines. 2002 Aircraft Engines revenues: $11.1 billion |
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| 1919 NBC |
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Broadcasting: GE organizes its radio and other communications resources into the independent Radio Corporation of America, parent company of NBC. GE purchases RCA in 1986. 2002 NBC revenues: $7.1 billion |
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| 1922 |
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Radio: GE radio station WGY, Schenectady begins operation; four years later NBC establishes the nation’s first permanent radio network. |
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| 1927 |
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Television: First home television reception takes place at a Schenectady, N.Y. residence with signal from GE’s WGY. In 1928, WGY initiates thrice-weekly TV programming. |
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| 1932 |
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Nobel Prize: GE researcher Irving Langmuir is first industrial scientist in U.S. to win a Nobel Prize. Langmuir’s innovations at GE included the development of vacuum tubes, high-intensity incandescent lamps and electrical controls. In 1973, physicist Ivar Giaever became the second GE scientist to win a Nobel Prize. |
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| 1933 Consumer Finance |
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Credit: General Electric Credit Corporation formed to help consumers purchase GE appliances over time. 2002 Consumer Finance revenues: $10.3 billion |
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| 1939 |
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Lighting: GE announces commercial availability of first fluorescent lamps. |
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| 1939 |
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Glareless Glass: GE researcher Katherine B. Blodgett develops the prototype for the coatings used on virtually all camera lenses and optical devices. |
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| 1940 |
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Silicones: Dr. Eugene G. Rochow discovers the direct process for making methylchlorosilanes, a key building block of all silicone products; GE begins commercial production in 1944. In 1969, astronauts step onto the moon in boots made of GE Silicones materials. 2002 Silicones revenues: $1.2 billion |
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| 1942 Aircraft Engines |
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Jet Engine: GE develops first U.S. jet engine. |
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| 1947 |
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Meet the Press: The first weekly news show, now the longest-running program in the history of television, debuts on NBC. NBC follows with Texaco Star Theater, TV’s first runaway hit, in 1948; Today, first early-morning network news show, in 1952; and The Tonight Show, the first network late-night talk show, in 1954. |
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| 1953 |
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Plastics: Seeking improved wire enamel, Daniel W. Fox develops LEXAN™ polycarbonate resin—a transparent plastic of unsurpassed impact resistance. LEXAN resins have contributed to revolutions in product design in virtually every industry. Plastics follows LEXAN with NORYL®, ULTEM®, GELOY® and other pioneering plastics molecules. 2002 LEXAN revenues: $2.5 billion |
| 1974 Insurance |
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Long-Term Care: Fireman’s Fund pioneers long-term care insurance; becomes part of GE in 1995. 2002 Insurance revenues: $23.3 billion |
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| 1976 |
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CT: GE develops fan-beam computed tomography, creating detailed pictures of areas inside the body from multiple images, or “slices.” 2002 CT revenues: $1.2 billion |
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| 1982 Aircraft Engines |
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World Engine: CFMI, GE’s joint company with Snecma, introduces the CFM56™ jet engine that now powers more than one quarter of the world’s commercial fleet. GE’s share of 2002 CFM56™ revenues: $3.8 billion |
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| 1983 |
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MRI: Global Research and Medical Systems develop high field magnetic resonance imaging. 2002 MR revenues: $1.3 billion |
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| 1983 Equipment Management |
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Railroad Cars: GE acquires railcar services firm NACC and begins expansion of equipment leasing business. 2002 Equipment Management revenues: $4.3 billion |
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| 1992 |
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Regional jets: GE introduces its first engine for regional jets, the CF34. 2002 CF34 orders: 5,000 |
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| 1994 |
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E-business: GE Plastics launches the Company’s first Web site, making GE the first non-computer Fortune 500 company to go online. |
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| 1995 |
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GE90®: GE introduces its first version of the GE90; today’s GE90-115B is the world’s most powerful jet engine. GE90 orders as of 2002: $7.5 billion+ |
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| 2000 |
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Digital X-ray: GE Innova® 4100 introduced; device produces cardiovascular images with unsurpassed detail and clarity. 2002 digital imaging revenues: $330 million |
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| 2000 |
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LEXAN® SLX: Plastics develops a color-infused resin that can replace paint on cars. |
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| 2003 |
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H System™: Test operations of first H System, designed for 60% thermal efficiency, begin at Baglan Bay, Wales. |
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| 2003 |
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Evolution: Fuel-efficient GE Evolution Series locomotives, which comply with 2005 U.S. environmental regulations, begin test operations. |
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| 2003 |
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Digital Hospital: Indianapolis Heart Hospital becomes first hospital with all-digital, real-time electronic patient records, including medical images, accessible to physicians anywhere in the hospital. |
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| 2003+ |
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Molecular Imaging, Hydrogen Energy, Nanotechnology, Advanced Propulsion, Photonics, Light/Energy Conversion |
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| THE 126TH YEAR GE 2002 Breakthroughs |
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| WOW WOW is the endgame and it's not easy getting there. |
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 GE.com Home Stock Chart Investor FAQs
Investor Relations Contacts GE Annual Reports 2003 Proxy StatementPrivacy Policy Terms and Conditions Order Reports Electronic Delivery *This is an interactive electronic version of GE's 2002 Annual Report to Share Owners, and it is intended to be complete and accurate. The contents of this version are qualified in their entirety by reference to the printed version. A reproduction of the printed version is available in PDF format on this Web site.
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